Long Live
by Ariel Sun
Summary: Hikari Tamura has never been one to wait around. Her life is about to become a big adventure, and it's one she has only ever dreamed of. OC warning. Rated T just to be safe. Eventual Kukai/OC. Review please. x
1. Prologue

I've always felt like I've had two personalities. You know, like split personality disorder? My parents even notice it sometimes. Sometimes I'll act confident, cool and collected, but other times I'm moody, cold and hateful. They've never taken me to see a psychologist. I always refused. There's nothing wrong with me, I protested, lots of kids act this way. It's just a part of growing up. I never asked to be this way, but everything happens for a reason, right?

Have you ever analyzed your dreams? Like, trying to figure out what they mean? I do all the time. Dreams have always fascinated me. My dreams made a lot of sense, but they shocked me because how different they were. Or maybe I was shocked at how alike they were.

_"Three seconds until the buzzer, if Tamura Hikari makes this shot, she'll win the nationals for her team!" An announcer cried, excitement of the game catching up to him. I was just outside the three-point arc. I shot the ball, and..._

_Swoosh! Right before the buzzer. The crowd goes wild! Rushing out on the court, fans held me up in the air chanting my last name. _

_"Tamura! Tamura! Tamura!"_

This is one of my oldest and most recurring dreams. I fell in love with basketball when I was very young. I remember watching the all-star players on television with wide eyes and looking at my parents on the couch and saying "I could do that."

From then on, I had a basketball in my hand almost all the time. Once I was old enough, I started seriously training. I loved what I could do with my body. I could lift weights, run as far as I could, stretch for as long as possible. I was rather tall, so I normally played the post position. I was fast for a forward, so I could almost play anywhere on the court. Playing always cleared my head. If I was down, I would just grab a ball and head to the court. It was my ultimate stress-reliever.

But basketball is not the only thing I love.

_I stand on stage, microphone in hand, shaking. It's a nervous shake. Not a bad kind of nervous, but I definitely have the jitters. The music starts, nice and slow, then it speeds up, leading to my cue. The spotlight suddenly brightens. It's right on me, and it's like I can feel the heat radiating from it even though it's dozens of feet away. I begin to sing, and all of my inhibitions and nerves fade away into the song. _

_Toward the end of the song, my voice gets stronger, my spine straightens and I stand taller. This is my moment, and no one can take this moment from me. I end the song with a long, high note, and the huge audience erupts in applause. It's nearly deafening. I grin from ear to ear, and take a cheesy bow. _

_"Thank you so much, goodnight!" I say, waving as I leave the stage. _

The two dreams always end in the same way. A huge crowd is always chanting my name, wanting more.

I discovered my passion for music in a similar way. I was listening to the radio, and all the sudden, a song came on. Not just any song, mind you. It was a song that changed my life. It doesn't matter what it was or who it was by, that's not important. What's important is the message it conveyed to me. It was my favorite song from there on out. I would sing it everywhere. In the car, in the shower, during class, while shooting hoops. But one day, I was singing it during my music class, and my teacher called me out into the hallway. She asked me to sing for her. So that's what I did. She smiled at me and asked me if anyone had ever told me I had a beautiful voice. I shook my head. My teacher told me I was very talented and she said she could give me vocal and instrument lessons. Any instrument you want, she said. Of course, I accepted her offer and I chose the guitar.

After school every day I would go to the music room, go to my lesson, then go home and train. After that, I would do my homework. I kept my grades up, even with everything I was doing. My parents weren't big fans of music, though. They said if my grades ever dropped or if I got behind on my training, I was not to go to music lessons anymore. But my grades never dropped, and I never got behind on training.

Singing and playing basketball do have some common ground, though. When I sing, I'm in control. When I have the ball in my hand, I'm in control. With basketball, it's like it's just me and the basket. With singing, it's like I'm singing for a huge crowd every time. It's a great feeling. I can't decide which I like more.

I've always loved being the center of attention. It's like when everyone is paying attention to me, I get drunk on the excitement. Don't get me wrong, I would never fake something just for attention, and I never bring the limelight to myself. I just wait for it to happen on its own, and I love every minute of it. However, being alone and in the spotlight is a totally different story... And that, brings us to our story.


	2. Hikari and the Eggs

Hello! So this is the first real chapter! Please enjoy! :)

* * *

After school one day in early spring, I was outside in the warm weather shooting hoops. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched. And I was.

A few people were sitting on the side of court, staring. Normally, I would love being in the spotlight, but since I transferred to Seiyo High School last year, no one has really tried to become my friend. I have tried several times, but every person I try to befriend seems intimidated when I speak with them. This is a very frustrating process. As I shoot the ball at the elbow and sink it easily, I hear a chorus of "Oooooh's." I frowned. That shot wasn't even that impressive. I was like one of those unapproachable famous people who you always heard about and admired, but no one actually tried to talk to them. I wish people at this school weren't so... fangirl-y.

I think back to my first day at Seiyo High in ninth grade.

"_Class, this is Tamura Hikari," the sensei said to the students sitting at desks before me. They all stared at me, wide-eyed, like I was some kind of alien species. "Introduce yourself, Tamura-san!"_

_What do I say?_

"_Hey, I'm Hikari Tamura. I hope to make friends with all of you."_

_The students whispered amongst themselves._

"_...I love her outfit..."_

_I looked down at myself. It was basically the standard uniform for the school, but I had added my own flair to it. I wore black ankle boots with black patterned tights and a red skirt. For my upper half I wore a black blazer with a white shirt and a sparkly tie. I had added studs to the hem of my skirt and I wore a stack of bracelets on my arm._

"_...I heard she's a star at basketball..."_

"_...She's so confident..."_

"_SHE'S SO COOL!" the class exclaimed._

"_Eh?" I tilted my head to one side, lifting an eyebrow. This class was so weird. A boy in the second row caught my eye, and winked at me. I smiled at him. He looked like one of those popular jocks, but he seemed like a nice guy. The boy had messy brown hair, green eyes, and pierced ears._

_After that, my class pretty much decided that I was "too cool to approach." So no one really knew the real me, as cliché as that sounds._

I shot the ball again, it bounced off the rim but I got the rebound and went for the stick-back.

"I heard she's totally gonna be the girl's basketball team captain next year!"

"I heard she's really good at singing, too!"

"She's got a personality that rivals Hinamori Amu's!"

Okay, this was getting really old. I have been at this school for a little over a year and people are still admiring me from afar. I clenched my jaw as I listened to more whispers. Annoyed, I turned on a dime toward the small crowd. "You guys can leave now! Nothing to see here!" I told them. They took a few steps back, but didn't leave. God, these people were starting to get me off my game. I took another shot, but it was flat. The ball bounced off the rim and headed toward the other direction. I started to run after it, but there was a boy holding the ball already. I skidded to a stop, almost falling over. I gripped my hands on his shoulders to keep my balance.

"Woah, slow down there!" he laughed. The boy was none other than Kukai Souma. He flashed me that signature grin of his. I heard he was a Guardian back in elementary school, but that was obviously ancient history, since we're both almost sixteen now. We had a few classes together. We weren't exactly friends, but we had talked a few times, if that counts for anything. One thing I knew we had in common was that we both loved sports.

"Hey, Tamura-san, care if I shoot with you?" he asked, tossing his duffel bag next to mine.

"I thought soccer was your thing, Souma-san?" I said, stepping back and crossing my arms. He had obviously just gotten done with soccer practice. He was red in the face and his hair was even messier than usual. And if that didn't give it away, he was wearing soccer cleats.

"Basketball is my runner-up sport!" Kukai grinned, then turned to the basket, and shot with perfect form and swished the ball. A few girls seemed to come out of nowhere with cheerleading outfits and pom poms. What the hell? Kukai seemed pretty pleased with himself, though. He quickly changed into some regular tennis shoes.

"Yaaaaaay! Go Souma-sama!" the fangirls cheered. I laughed, feeling kind of embarrassed for them. They looked really dumb.

"Sounds like you have a few fans!" I said, getting the ball from the net.

"Jealous?" Kukai teased.

"Oh yeah, I'm so jealous!" I said sarcastically, but not in a mean way. I shot the ball. It hit the backboard and rolled in.

"Not bad," Kukai commented, getting the ball.

"Don't act like you're not impressed," I said, sticking my tongue out at him playfully.

Kukai and I played basketball for a while, when I saw something crawl out of his bag and fly up into the air. It looked like a tiny... person? It was a three-inch person! He had green hair with a star-shaped clip and sporty clothes.

"Um, Souma-san?"

"Yeah?" I subtly motioned to the floating... something.

"Oh, so you can see Daichi?" Kukai said. "Awesome, come with me." I got my ball and bag and Kukai grabbed my hand and started to run. "SPRINT!" he howled.

"Where are we going?!" I said, trying to balance my duffle bag and my basketball.

"You'll see! All you have to do now is keep up!" Kukai grinned back at me, squeezing my hand.

"Right. I could outrun you any day!" I snorted, letting my pride peek out.

We reached our destination quickly, since we sprinted the whole way there.

"Really? The park? The place you wanted to take me?" I said, looking around. Yeah, this sure was a special place we needed to rush to. Not. I'd been here plenty of times.

"I just wanted to get away from that crowd," Kukai explained.

"So who's... Daichi?" As if on cue, Daichi floated up to Kukai's shoulder.

"She has very powerful eggs. They're about to hatch," Daichi said to Kukai. How did he know about the two eggs?! Kukai looked taken aback.

"You mean she has more than one?" Kukai asked. Daichi nodded.

"Um, helloooo? I'm right here!" I said, waving my hands animatedly.

"Sorry," Kukai said, rubbing the back of his head. "Daichi is my guardian character. My would-be self.

"All guardian characters can sense other eggs," Daichi added.

I rummaged through my bag. I pulled out two eggs. One was a bright scarlet, with lightning bolts on it, with the other was a light turquoise, with a sun on it. I cradled them both gently.

"You mean guardian characters are going to come from these? Why do I have two and you only have one?" I asked Kukai.

"Well, we're not really sure why that happens," Kukai said. "I actually know a girl who has four!"

Four of those little people flying around you all the time? That's crazy. Suddenly, I felt the scarlet egg wiggle. My eyes widened, and I looked back at Kukai, mentally saying _"Did you see that?!" _Kukai smiled at me.

This all seemed so surreal. Then I thought about it... how could this even be possible?! I looked around. "Kukai, I swear, if I'm being punked or something, I'm going to..."

Kukai cut me off before I could finish my threat. "Trust me, all of this is one hundred percent real." He assured me. "Think back to the day before you found those in your bed. Did you make a wish?"

Now that I think about it, I _did _make a wish. I had wished that I could be both a singer and a basketball player, because my parents wanted me to choose. They both agreed on it, which was strange because they just got a divorce last year. I guess the guardian charas were going to help me make my wish come true.

"Everyone has an egg in their soul, but they may never see their guardian characters. Those who do are very lucky. They are born when a kid makes a wish to find their true self." Kukai explained, sitting on a bench and motioning for me to sit next to him. I did. I stared at the eggs cradled in my hands. Two charas would be born from these eggs. The scarlet one wiggled again.

"Woah," I breathed.

"Woah is right!" Kukai exclaimed. "You really do have powerful eggs."

I felt like I should tell Kukai what I wished for, and why, but I didn't feel like I knew him well enough to open up to him.

"Daichi was born when I wanted to challenge myself. I wanted to try new things. People always had this image of me playing soccer," Kukai said. Crap. He probably said that so I would tell him what I had wished for the night before I got the eggs. Thankfully, I didn't have to explain, because Kukai got distracted quickly. He squinted, and leaned forward, as if looking for something. I looked to my left, in the direction he was looking.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"I think... it is!" Kukai murmured at first, then his eyes widened and he exclaimed. He grabbed my hand again and took off, dragging me along with him.

"Where are we going now?!" I asked, clutching my eggs so I wouldn't drop them.

"I saw an X Egg! It's heading this way!" Kukai panted, leading me out of the park.

"What the hell is an X Egg?!" I said. Then I saw it. It was definitely a guardian egg, but it was black and it had a white X on it.

I knew that couldn't be good news. We started to catch up to it, and Kukai let go of my hand. He looked to Daichi.

"Ready, Daichi? Character transform!" Daichi nodded and Kukai started to glow. I blinked, and suddenly he was wearing a green pilot's outfit with goggles, a star clip in his hair, and black boots.

"Sky Jack!" Daichi announced.

"Wha-what is this...?" I asked in awe as a skateboard appeared in Kukai's hand.

"Just leave it to me!" Kukai told me, taking off on his skateboard.

"But..." I sighed, watching as Kukai tried to catch the now-flying X Egg. I had to do something. I hated sitting on the sidelines, being as helpless as a baby. I had to think of something, and fast...

"You can do anything!"

"Huh?" I looked around, and there was no one there. Who said that? Then I saw something float in front of me. A guardian character? She was three inches tall, and she had black hair that was pulled back into a ponytail with a headband with a lightning bolt on it. She wore a white dry fit tee-shirt, black running shorts and stylish running shoes.

"I'm Midori, your guardian character!" I grinned. This couldn't be happening!

"So what do we do, Midori?" I asked, keeping my eyes on Kukai.

"Easy, we character change!" Midori snorted, as if it were obvious. "Ready? Faster, better, stronger!" she exclaimed.

A lightning bolt clip suddenly appeared in my long, dark brown curly locks, and I felt a charge surge through me. I grinned, and took off in the direction of Kukai and the X Egg, with Midori hot on my trail. Kukai had tried to get the X Egg, but it was just too fast.

"Tamura?"

I flashed him a smile, like he did the first day I saw him.

"Hikari-chan, Kukai-kun will distract the egg while you trap it!" Midori said, flying next to me.

"Got it!"

Kukai was throwing attacks at the egg, but the egg was dodging. It was pretty high in the air. "Ready..." Midori said as I positioned myself under the X Egg.

"Jump!" I bent my knees, and jumped as high as I could. To my surprise, I jumped exactly to where the egg was in the air. I reached out and grabbed it and wouldn't let go no matter how much it squirmed. I glanced down at the ground. "How did I do that?!" I thought, bending my knees and bracing for my feet to hit the ground. I made a perfect landing, of course.

"Hikari-chan, that was awesome!" Kukai exclaimed, running up. His transformation had worn off. "Wait, I can call you by your first name, right?"

"Of course, Kukai-kun," I laughed. The lightning bolt hair clip had disappeared into thin air. The X Egg squirmed in my tightly clenched hands.

"What do I..?"

"Throw it in the air," Kukai instructed.

"Then what would be the point in capturing it?" I said, confused yet again. Kukai placed his hands over mine.

"Trust me." He gave me a warm smile. I bit my lip, then threw it up in the air.

"Golden victory shoot!" A fiery golden soccer ball shot from Kukai hit the X Egg. Light surrounded the egg, it became white and a pair of wings sprouted from the sides of it.

"You did it, Hikari-chan!" Kukai gave me a thumbs-up.

"Nah, you did most of it," I said, being humble. Midori introduced herself to Kukai and Daichi.

Kukai and I started walking out of the park. "So, what actually happened back there?" I asked, laughing at myself for asking so many questions.

"You know what? I'll explain some other time. Right now you're tired, and so am I. Don't worry your pretty little head about it."

I smiled at him. Did he just call me pretty? Whatever, he was just trying to be suave, I guess.

"So, I'll see you at school tomorrow?" I said, looking into his green eyes. What was I thinking?

"Yeah, you'll definitely be seeing me," Kukai grinned.

"Do you always try to act this smooth?" I said quietly, smirking and leaning in a bit before suddenly pulling away. We both laughed.

"I'll see you later," I smiled, before turning and starting the walk home as Midori sat on my shoulder, answering all the questions that were floating around in my head.


End file.
